Most & Least healthy fast foods

 

"COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Wendy's may pride itself on never freezing its beef, but that doesn't necessarily make it a healthy choice.

According to a new report by World Atlas, Wendy's has been named the country's unhealthiest fast-food chain.

The report highlights some staggering numbers.

A Triple Baconator meal, complete with large fries and a medium Frosty, clocks in at just over 2,100 calories. It also contains 54 grams of saturated fat and 3,400 milligrams of sodium. This one meal alone exceeds most daily nutritional limits.

Seasonal items aren't any better, packing a serious caloric punch. For instance, the Pretzel Bacon Pub Triple Cheeseburger alone contains over 1,500 calories.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

1. Wendy's
2. Sonic
3. Taco Bell
4. Dairy Queen
5. KFC
6. Quiznos
7. McDonalds
8. Smashburger
9. Little Caesars
10. Chick-fil-A

The report reviewed nutrition data, menu gimmicks and marketing tactics at major fast-food chains. The ten restaurants outinely serve meals that can eclipse daily calorie limits in a single sitting."

Execution Methods

 https://www.worldatlas.com/crime/historical-methods-of-execution-in-the-world.html

 

Humankind certainly has been creative in developing ways to execute people.

 HERE's an article detailing some of them!

Native Americans, perhaps 1st Car Ride?

 

Alabama Public TV

 In 2019, Alabama Public Television made a decision not to air an episode of the children's show "Arthur" that featured a same-sex wedding. 

Alabama Public Television also made a similar decision in 2005 concerning an episode of the "Arthur" spin-off "Postcards From Buster," which featured a same-sex family. HERE is a complete story about the issue. 

Should America lower the voting age?

 

The U.K. Is considering lowering the voting age to 15. Should the U.S. Do the same? 

"Do many places give 16-year-olds the vote?

"Several nations do, including Austria, Malta and Brazil, while in Greece the voting age is set at 17. Others allow 16-year-olds to participate only in some elections: In Germany and Belgium, they can help choose members of the European Parliament, but they cannot vote in federal elections. Britain has been in that category: Elections for the separate parliaments that control many policy areas in Scotland and Wales already had a voting age of 16." (Source: N.Y. Times story.)

The national voting age in the United States, as established by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, is 18 years old

. This means that anyone who is a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years of age on or before Election Day has the right to vote in federal, state, and local elections, assuming they meet other state-specific residency and registration requirements. 

It is important to note that while the federal voting age is 18, some states allow younger individuals (typically 17-year-olds) to register and even vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 by the time of the general election. Additionally, some states allow preregistration for individuals younger than 18, so they are eligible to vote once they reach the age of 18. 

The 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971, largely driven by the sentiment that if 18-year-olds were old enough to be drafted and fight in the Vietnam War, they should also be old enough to vote. 

 

PBS/NPR funding cuts

Both of Alabama's U.S. Senators---Republicans Britt and Tuberville---voted in favor of cutting funding for Public Broadcasting. Make sure you thank them.

"The Senate voted 51 to 48 to claw back about $9 billion in federal funding that lawmakers had approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The so-called rescissions were made at the request of the White House, which has sought to codify spending cuts put forward by Elon Musk’s cost-cutting effort, the Department of Government Efficiency."

The vast majority of funding for NPR & PBS comes from "viewers like you".

(Reliance on Federal Funding: APT receives approximately $3 million annually from the federal government, representing about 13% of its overall budget.) 

 Today is the day a LGBTQ suicide hotline will close, courtesy of tRump cuts.

 

Ironically, the number of calls increased dramatically when tRump was elected in 2024:

"When the presidential race was called for Donald Trump in the early hours of Wednesday, calls and texts to a leading LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization exploded in a massive outpouring of anxiety over the election results.

The Trevor Project saw an overall 700 percent increase in calls, texts and chats compared to prior weeks. The organization offers a lifeline via phone, online chat or text to LGBTQ+ youth who struggle with thoughts of depression, self-harm or suicide while navigating coming out to their families or facing discrimination. Right now, the services are experiencing long hold times at an especially vulnerable time for LGBTQ+ people."

 (Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/lgbtq-youth-calls-to-mental-health-crisis-line-spiked-by-700-percent-after-election-day

108 Years Ago

 Anniversary of this massive parade in Montgomery

 

 

tRump on The Publlic Broadcasting Budget cuts: YES!

 tRump has in particular warned Republicans not to strip out the cuts to public broadcasting.

“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. 

From a Washington Post story HERE. 

 (Addendum: 

Reliance on Federal Funding: APT receives approximately $3 million annually from the federal government, representing about 13% of its overall budget.) 

GET IT RIGHT!

 

GET IT RIGHT!

 IT'S THE GULF OF MEXICO.

IT'S THE GULF OF MEXICO.

IT'S THE GULF OF MEXICO.

IT'S THE GULF OF MEXICO.

                                   PERIOD.

 

Whew!

 97 degrees in Montgomery this hour.

Whew!

 

AFTER Trump.....a depressing thought:

 

Will The United States status improve once Trump is gone?

From column by The New York Times writer 

By Thomas B. Edsall

"If a Democrat wins the presidency in 2028, there is no guarantee he or she will fully abandon Trump’s approach. In the case of executive authority, a broken precedent is hard to repair. For politicians of all stripes, power is habit-forming and the appeal of exercising it will be very strong."

Washington Post headline

 

Trump says Putin’s talk about achieving peace ‘doesn’t mean anything’

 

Tough choice. I'm certainly no Putin fan, but even less so of tRump. 

So Long PBS?

I spent a decade or more on Alabama PublicTelevision. Now a large portion of the federal funding for APT may be eliminated. 
 

NY Times story:

By Benjamin Mullin

July 14, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET

The DealBook Newsletter  Our columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make sense of major business and policy headlines — and the power-brokers who shape them.

More than a half-century ago, the federal government took a big step toward the media business when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law.

Because of that bill, PBS, NPR and other public broadcasters in the United States receive more than $500 million annually from the government-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

That support is now hanging in the balance. The Senate is planning to vote this week on a proposal to strip the funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a move that could be catastrophic for radio and TV stations across the country.

Here’s what you need to know.

Would NPR and PBS survive?

Yes. NPR gets about 2 percent of its annual budget directly from federal grants, including from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; for PBS, that amount is about 15 percent. Both organizations also get federal money indirectly, through payments from member stations across the country that receive government funding, though it’s difficult to estimate precisely how much.

The real pain will be felt by local stations in far-flung locations like Unalakleet, Alaska, and Pendleton, Ore. Those broadcasters often rely disproportionately on federal grants for their operations because of a funding formula that takes into account the fact that they have fewer donors and programming sponsors.

What about local stations?

An internal NPR report from 2011 obtained by The New York Times said that if Congress cut off funding to the public radio system, up to 18 percent of the roughly 1,000 member stations would close, with broadcasters in the Midwest, South and the West affected the most. Nationwide, up to 30 percent of listeners would lose access to NPR programming.

For PBS, local TV stations would also bear the brunt of the cuts. And popular programs like “PBS NewsHour” and “Nature” might need to find money elsewhere, such as from donations or syndication.

What’s the argument for defunding NPR and PBS?

Critics of public broadcasters argue that the media organizations have a liberal bias that taxpayers should not have to support.

Uri Berliner, a former senior editor at NPR, argued in an essay last year that journalists at the public radio network had “coalesced around the progressive worldview,” faulting its coverage of stories such as the controversy surrounding the laptop of then-President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son, Hunter.

Some Republican lawmakers, such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have argued that widespread internet access has made news coverage from rural stations increasingly unnecessary.

Some Republican critics of PBS have taken issue with content that they believe is too focused on issues of race and gender. Those concerns were aired during a Congressional hearing this spring where lawmakers grilled Katherine Maher, the chief executive of NPR, and Paula Kerger, the chief executive of the Public Broadcasting Service.

What’s the argument for keeping government funding intact?

Proponents of public radio and TV in the United States argue that the organizations provide essential, free, and in some cases lifesaving information for Americans across the country for little cost to taxpayers.

In some places, including remote locations that could be most affected by the cuts, public media is one of the only sources of local news.

In addition to news programs like “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition” on NPR, public broadcasting advocates are quick to extol the power of educational programs like “Sesame Street” and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

Defenders of public broadcasting also underscore the virtues of vigorous journalism aired by PBS — programs like “Frontline” and “PBS NewsHour” — and investigations published by NPR, such as a recent deep dive into the Trump administration’s impact on the federal health care budget.

What will happen next?

The Senate must act on the proposal to cut the funding, known as a rescission request, by Friday, July 18; the House has already approved it. If the measure passes, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will no longer be able to make grants after September.

If the rescission is enacted, it would probably not seriously affect any local radio and TV stations until this fall, when the next payment from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting fails to arrive.

Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at benjamin.mullin@nytimes.com.

 

...and so on.....

 

 Attorney General Pam Bondi this week fired multiple Justice Department employees who were involved in two federal prosecutions of President Donald Trump during the Biden administration, according to several people familiar with the terminations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.

SOURCE: Washington Post story (HERE) 

Opening Tomorrow!

  

The members of "The 9" group each have an entry in this exhibition...including me! 

The Alabama Beaches!

 A Washington Post feature profiled less expensive beach vacation sites....including one in Alabama:

 

6 less-expensive beach vacations in the U.S.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Full story HERE.

For a “more family-oriented” beach town, Concepcion likes this Gulf Coast spot for its range of activities and hotel options that “don’t have to break the bank.”

Beachfront hotels can be expensive, but farther inland, the area has budget-friendly chains such as Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express for less than $150 a night in August.

Gulf State Park covers more than 3.5 miles of beaches and encourages visitors to use boxes at access points to grab and leave beach toys; its “Leave Only Footprints” program includes rules and tips on protecting the shores. Within the park, a backcountry trail system includes more than 28 miles of paved trails for bicycling, jogging, wandering and wildlife spotting.

Man-made experiences can be found at nearby mini-golf courses, go-kart tracks and water parks. Find a ropes course, beach arcade and gulf shrimp at Lucy Buffett’s LuLu’s, from a family who embodies the beachy spirit. (She is the younger sister of the late singer and businessman Jimmy Buffett.)

Don’t miss: Several tour companies set off from nearby Orange Beach multiple times a day for dolphin-spotting boat trips. Some even offer guarantees.

 

Shortest Day? Today or July 22nd or August 5th

 

Why the Shortest Day of Your Life Could Happen This Summer

This year's shortest day—Earth's fastest single rotation—will likely fall on July 9, July 22, or August 5th. 

 

 

Reminder

 

Terry Moran fired

 "Moran, who had been one of ABC News’ top national correspondents, on early Sunday went to X and wrote that (Stephen) Miller is “one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy,” and operates not on “brains” but on “bile.”

He added that Miller was “a world-class hater. You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”

 

(Not defending him, but his comments about Miller were correct!) 

Texas flooding

 

 “We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,” Mathew Stone said. Then “a pitch black wall of death.”

 

Full Story HERE. 

Educated States Ranked

Alabama is 43rd of the 50 states when it comes to education.

Top 10:

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Educational Attainment Rank	Quality of Education Rank
1	Massachusetts	82.28	1	1
2	Maryland	75.13	4	2
3	Vermont	73.54	3	14
4	Colorado	70.71	2	33
5	Connecticut	70.41	5	6
6	Virginia	68.05	7	11
7	New Jersey	67.96	10	4
8	New Hampshire	66.89	6	17
9	Washington	65.69	9	12
10	Minnesota	64.43	8	22

HERE is the full list,
 

Jesus With a :38

 The owner of a gun store in Montgomery is talking about a burglary in which guns and ammo were taken. He told Alabama News Network:

 

(James) "Boyer says Pike Tactical is a Christ-centered business, even down to the store’s logo.

“I forgive them, it’s what I’m called to do. It’s what Jesus did for me and what I’m going to do for them.”

He told The Montgomery Advertiser:

“At Pike Tactical, we believe that God has been pushing us to this time and place for many years. When you look at the Pike Tactical logo, you will see the cross before Pike Tactical, and all the way through it,” he said. “Pike Tactical is a testament to Jesus' goodness in our lives, and we will never hide or shy away from that truth.” 

 

Which leads to some questions: Will Boyer assist in the prosecution of the alleged robbers if they are caught? Did Jesus ever approve of using deadly weapons against people? Did He carry weapons of any kind? 

 “Beloved, lay your weapon down, for you are not your own. You have been bought with a price.” “Put your sword back into its place” (Matthew 26:52).

Recommended Reading

 

Opinion

Erik Wemple

Paramount betrays ‘60 Minutes’ and the rest of us

Parent company caves to baseless suit by Donald Trump.

July 2, 2025 at 5:06 p.m. E

 

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/02/paramount-settlement-trump-betrayal/

Student Art (+)

 

In addition to the student art, each member of "The Nine" has a work on display...including me!